Ferdinand Daučík (also known as Fernando Daucik; 30 May 1910 – 14 November 1986) was a Slovak football player and manager. Daučík was the manager of several

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

clubs, most notably

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Atlético Bilbao,

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

and

Real Zaragoza Real Zaragoza, S.A.D. (), commonly referred to as Zaragoza, is a football club based in Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain, that currently competes in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish league system. Zaragoza holds its home games at La ...

. During his career, he managed La Liga clubs in 488 matches, won three La Liga titles and won the

Copa del Generalísimo The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footb ...

on five occasions and won three La Liga/Copa doubles. He died in

Alcalá de Henares Alcalá de Henares () is a Spanish city in the Community of Madrid. Straddling the Henares River, it is located to the northeast of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 193,751, making it the region's third-most populated Municipalities ...

Playing career

Daučík played as a defender for 1. ČsŠK Bratislava,

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in ...

and the Czechoslovakia national team. He was only the third Slovak player ever to play for Czechoslovakia. He was part of the squad at both the

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and

1938 Events January * January 1 ** The Constitution of Estonia#Third Constitution (de facto 1938–1940, de jure 1938–1992), new constitution of Estonia enters into force, which many consider to be the ending of the Era of Silence and the a ...

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s, and although he didn't play in the 1934 tournament, he was the only Slovak to play in the 1938 competition.

Management career

Daučík coached ŠK Bratislava between 1942 and 1946 and again in 1948. In 1948, he coached Czechoslovakia for two matches. He arrived in Spain as coach of Hungaria, a team made up of refugees fleeing the various

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

regimes of

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

. The team included his brother-in-law,

Ladislao Kubala Ladislao is a given name, a Hispanic variant of Vladislav. Notable people with the name include: * Ladislao Cabrera, Bolivian hero during the War of the Pacific * Ladislao Diwa, Filipino patriot * Ladislao Martínez, Puerto Rico musician * Lászl ...

, who had married Daučík's sister, Anna Viola Daučík, in 1947. Hungaria played a series of friendlies against Madrid Select XI, a Spain XI and Español and during these matches, Kubala was spotted by

Josep Samitier Josep Samitier Vilalta (; 2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish Association football, football player, manager and scout who played as a midfielder for FC Barcelona, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, OGC Nice, ...

, then chief scout at

. Kubala was offered a contract and as part of the deal, Daučík became Barcelona coach in 1950.

CF Barcelona

Daučík coached Barcelona during one of the club's most successful periods. As well as Nicolae Simatoc–Kubala, the team also included

Juan Zambudio Velasco Juan Zambudio Velasco, (born 21 November 1921 in La Alquería, Murcia - died 21 January 2004 in Igualada, Barcelona) was a Spanish football goalkeeper. He played for Mollet and FC Barcelona. He retired playing in CE Sabadell FC. He was contra ...

Antoni Ramallets Antoni Ramallets Simón (1 July 1924 – 30 July 2013) was a Spanish football goalkeeper and manager. He spent most of his career at FC Barcelona, during the 1950s and early 1960s, winning the Ricardo Zamora Trophy as the best goalkeeper in ...

and

Joan Segarra Joan Segarra Iracheta (15 November 1927 – 3 September 2008) was a Spanish footballer who played as a defender. He spent 16 seasons with FC Barcelona between 1950 and 1964, in which he played 299 matches in La Liga and served as the team's cap ...

. During his four seasons in charge, the club won two consecutive

doubles in 1952 and 1953. In 1952, Barcelona won five different trophies, including La Liga, the Copa del Generalísimo, the Copa Latina and the

Copa Eva Duarte The Copa Eva Duarte was a Spanish football tournament organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and contested by the winners of La Liga and the Copa del Generalísimo. History In September 1940, a match with this format had the nam ...

. His contract ended in 1954 and after clashing with some players, he left the club.

Athletic Bilbao

Daučík subsequently joined

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

, where he won the Copa del Generalísimo in 1955 and his third Liga/Copa del Generalísimo

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

in 1956. Then with a squad that included Agustín Gaínza, Armando Merodio and

Jesús Garay Jesús Garay Vecino (10 September 1930 – 10 February 1995) was a Spanish Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, central defender. He amassed La Liga totals of 341 games and ten goals ov ...

, Daučík then led Atlético to the quarter-finals of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

in 1957. En route to the final, they eliminated

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

and Honvéd before losing 6–5 on aggregate to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

Atlético Madrid

The 1957–58 season saw Daučík take charge of

and lead them to second place in La Liga. This resulted in Atlético qualifying for the 1958–59 seasons

since the winners,

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, were also the reigning European champions. Inspired by

Vavá Edvaldo Izidio Neto (12 November 1934 – 19 January 2002), commonly known as Vavá, was a Brazilian footballer who is widely considered one of the best strikers of his generation. His nickname was "Peito de Aço" (Steel Chest). He played as a ...

and

Enrique Collar Enrique Collar Monterrubio (born 2 November 1934) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left winger. He earned 16 caps and scored 4 goals for the Spain national football team from 1955 to 1963. He played in the 1962 FIFA ...

, Atlético reached the semi-finals after beating Drumcondra FC,

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia ( bg, ЦСКА София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sport ...

and

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

. In the semi-finals, they met Real Madrid, who won the first leg 2–1 at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...

while Atlético won 1–0 at the Metropolitano. If away goals had counted double, Atlético would have progressed to the final. However, the tie went to a replay and Real won 2–1 in

Zaragoza Zaragoza, also known in English as Saragossa,''Encyclopædia Britannica'"Zaragoza (conventional Saragossa)" is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain. It lies by the Ebro river and its tributari ...

Later years

Daučík remained in demand as a manager throughout his career. After leaving Atlético Madrid in 1959, he had a spell at Porto during the 1959–60 season. He then spent two years at

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

between 1960 and 1962. While there, he gave a La Liga debut to his son

Yanko Daucik Yanko Daucik Ciboch (22 March 1941 – 13 May 2017) was a Slovak professional football (soccer), footballer during the 1960s and 1970s. Yanko played for Real Betis, Real Madrid, the Toronto Falcons (1967–1968), Toronto Falcons and RCD Españo ...

. Daučík then had a season each with

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

and

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

before he joined

in 1966. He took over Real towards the end of the 1965–66 season, leading them to victory in the

final when they beat Atlético Bilbao 2–0. They also reached the

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European Association football, football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecess ...

final, but after beating Barcelona 1–0 in the home-leg, Real eventually lost 4–3 on aggregate. In 1967, Daučík moved to Canada to coach the Toronto Falcons of the National Professional Soccer League. This proved to be something of a family reunion as he was joined at the club by his son Yanko, son-in-law Ladislao Kubala and grandson Branko Kubala. After returning to Spain, he had spells at

Elche Elche ( ca-valencia, Elx) is a city and municipality of Spain, belonging to the province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community. According to 2014 data, Elche has a population of 228,647 inhabitants,Colonia Moscardó, among others.http://hemeroteca.elmundodeportivo.es/preview/1980/09/11/pagina-19/1042925/pdf.html?search=fernando%20daucik%20levante A book about him, "Útek na lavičku Barcelony" (Escape to the Bench of Barcelona), was published in 2017 by Slovak football writer Mojmír Staško.

References

External links

*
Daucik at www.fcbarcelona.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daucik, Ferdinand 1910 births 1986 deaths People from Šahy Sportspeople from the Nitra Region People from the Kingdom of Hungary SK Slavia Prague players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players ŠK Slovan Bratislava managers La Liga managers Daucik, Fernando Athletic Bilbao managers Atlético Madrid managers Real Betis managers FC Porto managers Sevilla FC managers Real Zaragoza managers Elche CF managers Real Murcia managers RCD Espanyol managers Cádiz CF managers UE Sant Andreu managers Levante UD managers Czechoslovak footballers Slovak footballers Czechoslovak football managers Slovak football managers Czechoslovakia national football team managers 1934 FIFA World Cup players 1938 FIFA World Cup players Czechoslovakia international footballers Slovakia international footballers Dual internationalists (football) Czechoslovak refugees National Professional Soccer League (1967) coaches North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches Expatriate football managers in Portugal Expatriate football managers in Spain Expatriate soccer managers in Canada Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Spain Czechoslovak expatriate sportspeople in Canada Association football defenders